Dreaming Of You
by carissima
Summary: Wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her.


**AN: I haven't written anything in years, so I'm completely rusty. Story follows DH canon, just a little side plot. Hope you enjoy!**

Ginny was almost convinced that Harry was avoiding her. Since they'd all travelled back to the Burrow at the end of her fifth, Harry's sixth, year together, she'd barely seen him. It was rare for him to even make mealtimes, with her mum often leaving food packages that disappeared at odd times of the day, without a single Harry sighting.

She'd tried to pin Ron down with subtle questions about where Harry was, before moving on to more devious methods. Nothing worked. Ginny had spent almost 16 years growing up with Ronald Bilius, and she knew when he was lying. When he said he didn't know where Harry was or what he was doing, Ginny actually believed him. Hermione, on the other hand, was a tougher nut to crack. She swore that she didn't know anything about Harry's disappearances, but she assumed he was training or researching horcruxes or something else to do with their forthcoming journey. With only three days left before Fleur and Bill's wedding, and two until Harry's seventeenth birthday, Ginny knew that time was running out. She was fully aware that the trio would be leaving almost immediately after the nuptials were over, and knowing Harry as she did, she doubted that he planned a big farewell party, and instead would sneak out in the middle of the night without a word. She hated the thought of not being able to say goodbye, but she loved him exactly because he would slip out in the middle of the night to save the world. Stupid, noble Harry.

Once again, Harry was absent for dinner that evening, and although Ginny tried to pretend that she didn't notice, she let Ron beat her easily at chess and felt guilty as her pieces raged and ranted at her lack of strategy that left them wide open to Ron's attacks. Slipping off to bed early, Ginny planned and strategised a way to get Harry alone before he disappeared that would have made her chess set proud, for she knew full well that this might be the last time she ever saw him. She refused to believe it, in that stubborn Weasley determination that she held onto fiercely, but deep down, she knew it all the same. It was precisely the reason why she'd been nicer to Ron for the past week. Just that morning, she'd left the last piece of bacon for Ron, when normally she'd have swiped it before he'd been able to. With six older brothers, Ginny had learned that you moved fast or you didn't eat.

Finally happy with her plan, she fell asleep to dream of Harry coming home.

On the day of Harry's seventeenth birthday, Ginny dressed carefully, making sure to wear one of Harry's favourite outfits and leaving her hair down, because she knew he couldn't resist running his hands through it when they ... well, that depended on her plan, now.

She waited until she heard Hermione's voice float up the stairs and kept her eyes fixed on her doorway. Spotting Harry, she felt a flutter in her tummy, before silently warning herself to keep it together.

"Harry, will you come in here a minute?" Turning so as not to give Harry a chance to come up with an excuse, she carefully shut the door behind him. She watched as he took in the room, and she wondered at how he'd never been in her room before when she'd spent so many hours, days and months dreaming about him.

With a steady voice and catching his eye, she explained that she'd been trying to think of a birthday present to get for him that would be useful, but wouldn't slow him down on his trip. Taking a step closer, she voiced her fear that he would forget her, and in typical Harry fashion, he pointed out that he was hardly going to be spending his time on dates.

With a burst of relief, Ginny stepped into his arms and kissed him with all the passion, longing and sheer emotion that she felt inside for him. She felt his free hand, the one that wasn't on her back, urging her closer, bury in her hair and she felt a tremor of satisfaction, or perhaps desire, she wasn't sure right now seeing as she was just a bubbling cauldron of emotion.

Then Ron had to barge in and interrupt and all those things Ginny had wanted to say before he left, all those fears and wishes, they were never said. And perhaps, as Ginny sank onto her bed in her empty, lonely room, that was for the best. Harry didn't need to be weighed down by her-

What was she sitting on?

Jumping up, Ginny found a small, thin book laying on her bed. Frowning, Ginny eyed it suspiciously, fully aware of the last time she'd found a book in her possession without knowing where it came from. It definitely hadn't been there five minutes ago, because she'd spent almost an hour making sure everything in her room was perfect before Harry- well, anyway. Picking it up, she read the title: 'Dream Connections' by Penny Forrem.

Picking it up gingerly, Ginny flicked it open and read the inscription. "I seek to find the answers in your heart." No signature, no initials, no clues.

Simple, confusing and charming. The only culprit was Harry Potter, but why had he left her a book without telling her what it was or what she was meant to do with it? Well, read it, of course, but why would Harry leave her a book on dreams? She knew he hated divination and frequently made up hi s dreams to satisfy Professor Trelawney, it just didn't make sense. He couldn't possibly think that she was a seer, or that she'd demonstrated any talent in divination, for she was as practical as they came.

Leaving the book on her bedside table, Ginny vowed to speak to Harry before he left. However, that proved harder than she'd anticipated. She didn't get a chance to speak to Harry alone at all that day, mostly because Ron, the stupid git, was keeping a close eye on her and jumping between them whenever she got within three feet of Harry. She had to remind herself that she loved her brother and that he was about to embark on a sure-to-be terrifying journey that would end with Voldemort and she should be nice to the daft idiot, but it was getting harder by the minute.

* * *

Bill and Fleur's wedding day dawned without her having a chance to speak to Harry and she was kept busy with bridesmaid duties (who knew there were so many?) so that before she knew it, she was walking up the aisle and Bill and Fleur were kissing and confetti was thrown and the first dance was over and Kingsley's patronus was warning them and Harry had disappeared without a trace, along with Ron and Hermione, all without Ginny being able to say one word to Harry.

She wouldn't let it get to her. She'd known it would happen. After helping her parents to tidy up and consoling her mum on Ron's departure, she slipped up to her room, picked up the book, settled herself comfortably on the bed and began to read.

An hour later, Ginny was scribbling notes and reading as fast as she could. She shouldn't have doubted her wonderful, perfect, amazing Harry. Racing as fast as she could to the end of the book, she sat back and grinned stupidly before grabbing her notes and scanning them. It was brilliant, really, just brilliant. She couldn't _wait_ to go to sleep. Changing into her pyjamas and racing through her bedroom routine as fast as possible, Ginny climbed into bed and waited for sleep to sweep her away.

Waking up, Ginny frowned as she tried to remember her dreams. Concentrating her mind, she recalled having a particularly steamy dream involving Harry, but it was one she'd had plenty of times over the past year or so. It hadn't worked!

All day, Ginny devoted herself to reading and re-reading the book, practising and training her mind. While she was good at school and did well in her lessons, she was certainly no Hermione. However, years of watching her bushy-haired friend and absorbing her habits was certainly paying off now. Never before had Ginny been so motivated to learn a new ability so quickly or competently. Luckily, her parents assumed she was depressed at the departure of the trio so left her mostly alone to study and train.

This time, when nightfall descended, she was ready.

Falling asleep, she found herself sitting in a blank room, facing a wooden door that didn't look familiar at all.

She waited for what seemed like hours, before she heard his voice, coming from behind that door. "I seek to find the answers to your heart."

While all she wanted to do was run to the door and wrench it open to see his lovely face, she forced herself to get up slowly and walk to the door. "And what is in my heart?" she asked.

"A Hungarian Horntail tattoo?"

Laughing, Ginny yanked the door open and found Harry standing there, grinning with a slightly flushed face. Ginny thought he'd never looked more handsome.

Launching herself at him, she giggled as he swept her up and spun around, burying his face in her hair.

"Ginny, you are the most amazing witch," he murmured as he kept her close and shut the door behind him with a swift kick. "How did you learn this so quickly?"

"I had a really good incentive," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Oh Harry, how did you discover this?"

"I had a really good incentive too," he returned, settling himself down in the chair she'd vacated earlier and pulling her down to sit on his lap. "I spent days in the Hogwarts library reading every book, trying to find a safe way to talk to you. Last week, the book I left for you almost jumped out and hit me and I realised that it was perfect."

"Harry, are you sure this is safe? What do you mean, it jumped out at you? Perhaps Snape or someone put that book there for you to read and you thought it was safe but really Voldemort is just behind that door ..."

Putting his hand over her mouth and laughing at the indignation in her eyes at being interrupted, Harry chided her. "Ginny, don't you think I looked into all that? I tried every anti-charm and anti-hex and anti-jinx that I knew, and after I'd tried all three of those, I had Hermione try. After that, I had Remus look at it. There was no magic in the book, Ginny. Remus also told me that he'd heard of this magic being used before, but it took a strong bond to work, so witches and wizards gradually stopped using it."

"A strong bond, huh?" Ginny grinned. "Is that what we have?"

"The magic doesn't lie," Harry pointed out, hugging her closer. "It took me almost all week to learn how to enter your dream, how did you manage it in two days?"

"I'm a smart witch," Ginny began, moving her hand slowly up his chest. "Perhaps you should have taken me-"

Harry stopped her. "No."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed with a smile to show him that she really did understand. "I just miss you, that's all."

"I miss you too." Harry closed his eyes as her hand rested on his cheek. "I've missed holding you too."

"Stupid Ron," Ginny muttered before pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

"I considered hexing him," Harry confessed before reaching up to capture her lips again. The kiss deepened almost immediately and soon Harry's hands were moving restlessly over her body and Ginny was arching to get closer to him.

Coming up for air, Ginny took a few deep breaths as she rested her head against Harry's. "So this dream, how real is it?"

"It's perfectly real," Harry admitted as he smoothed his hands down her back. "If something happens to you here, it happens to your body in bed."

"Merlin, I hope mum and dad don't check up on me while I'm wriggling around on your lap!"

Harry grinned. "They'll just think you're having a vivid dream."

"Well, I am," Ginny laughed. "Oh Harry, how often can we do this?"

"Not every night," he sighed. "I need to conserve my magic for ... other things."

"But you'll let me know you're okay?"

"Of course. That's one of the main reasons why I wanted to make sure I could still talk to you. If it was reversed, I'd want to know ..." Harry trailed off.

"Exactly," Ginny murmured, kissing him gently to show her gratitude. Before long, her gently kiss had turned into a marathon snogging session ...

* * *

Every night, Ginny spent her dreams waiting in that room. As her magic strengthened, she'd decorated the room, first with a few bits of furniture, a sofa, a table, a bookcase full of books for those nights when Harry couldn't arrive. A few vases of flowers in full bloom had brightened up the room until she'd added a window that looked out onto a beautiful landscape that changed with the seasons. A pair of brightly coloured curtains, a rug and a few photographs on the wall had completed the transformation and Ginny was very proud of what she'd accomplished. Harry hadn't appeared since that first night, but she wasn't worried and she wasn't sorry that she spent every night waiting for him. She was back at Hogwarts now and life couldn't be more different, so it helped her to anticipate that this might be the night that Harry would appear. It also helped to disappear from the nightmare that Hogwarts had become, spending her time in her and Harry's room, pretending that one day ...

No, she wouldn't say it out loud.

Curling up on the sofa with the latest issue of The Prophet, Ginny started when she heard his voice. "I seek to find the answers in your heart."

Grinning happily, she moved to the door. "And what is in my heart?"

"Eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad."

Eyes flashing and cheeks flushing madly, Ginny opened the door with a mock-glare. "Harry James Potter, I'm almost tempted to not let you in."

Amused, Harry drank in every feature of her beautiful face. "I can't help it if you suck at poetry, Ginevra."

Lips pursed, Ginny considered slamming the door shut but one look at his sparkly eyes as fresh as pickled toad had her reaching up as he reached down to hug her tightly. "If I didn't love you so much, I'd kill you."

"Lucky me," Harry murmured as he brushed his lips against hers with a smile. "I like what you've done with the place."

Ginny beamed happily as she turned in his arms to look at the room. "I thought you might like a more homey place to come to."

"I appreciate the thought," Harry agreed as he pushed the door shut behind him. "Sleeping in that tent is getting really tedious."

"How's it going?" Ginny asked as she pulled him towards the sofa and sat herself down, urging him to sit next to her.

"It's not going well," he sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing, Hermione's crying every night ..."

"Why is Hermione crying?" Ginny asked, confused. "Has Ron upset her?"

Harry avoided her questioning gaze.

"Harry?" She couldn't stop a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

"Ron kind of ... took off." Harry stood up and started pacing. "We had ... an argument and he stormed off. We waited around for him, Ginny, waiting and hoping that he'd come back, but he never did."

"Stupid Weasley pride," Ginny murmured, fully aware of what Ron was like because she was just like him. "What did you argue about?"

"Ron and Hermione thought I had some great plan in place for finding the horcruxes."

"Ah."

"I'm as clueless as anyone, Gin. Dumbledore didn't exactly give me a map with the horcruxes marked as an X." Harry was still pacing. "He didn't even tell me what Voldemort had used for horcruxes. I just don't know!"

Ginny caught his hand and pulled him down next to her, urging him to lie down and lay his head in her lap. Stroking his hair gently, she marvelled at its complete inability to lay flat, even after all these years. "Harry, what you're doing is the most important thing that perhaps any wizard or witch will ever do. It's okay to be scared and confused."

"I thought I was meant to be strong and macho," he teased, soothed by her ministrations.

"That's what the wizarding world will think and we'll let them," she murmured. "But between you and me, and Ron and Hermione, it's okay for you to just be yourself. You've got years for the reputation of the great Harry Potter to build into some unobtainable mythology where you slay dragons and Dark Lords in your sleep."

Harry didn't say anything, but they both knew that his reputation might be the only part of him to survive this final battle. But Ginny, she would know what it had really been like for him. She knew him as few others did, and she loved him all the same.

They didn't talk or move for the rest of the night, but Ginny knew that wasn't what he needed. All he needed was to be touched, to be comforted and to remember that it was okay to just be him.

* * *

He didn't appear for months. Ginny didn't know where Ron was, because he hadn't come home. She hoped that he'd caught up with Harry and Hermione, for that's all she could do without going mad. She hadn't returned to Hogwarts after the Easter holidays and was holed up at Aunt Muriels with her parents and Fred and George, who were keeping her sane. It wasn't until Bill visited to tell them all that the trio were okay and currently at Shell Cottage that Ginny felt it was okay to relax slightly. She resisted the urge to make Bill take her home with him, and simply asked him to tell them that she sent her love, hoping against hope that Harry would appear to her that night, but he didn't. It wasn't until the next night that she heard his voice.

"I seek to find the answers in your heart."

"And what is in my heart?" she whispered, every fibre of her being waiting for the answer.

"A stupid idiot who left you for some noble reason that means less and less the longer I'm away from you."

"Oh Harry." Ginny threw open the door and hugged him tight. He looked tired and drained, she realised when she took a good look at him.

"I can't stay long, Gin." Harry didn't even look at the sofa, worried that he'd sink into it, hold Ginny close and never let go, never wake up.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on his wonderful face.

"I just wanted to let you know, you know," he muttered.

"This is it, isn't it?" she realised as she read his eyes accurately. "It's almost over."

Saying nothing, he pulled her into his arms and held her as close as he could without hurting her. He wanted to stay, he wanted to hide ... but that wasn't possible. He had to go and finish this.

"Just stay safe, Gin. Don't do anything rash or compulsive."

"I'd say the same to you, but you'd take as much notice of it as I'm going to of you."

"That's why I love you, Ginevra," he said softly before bending down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. "You've kept me going this whole time. Don't get hurt. Don't die."

"Same goes, you stupid git," Ginny sniffled as tears gathered in her eyes. "I've got big plans for you and me. Bigger than anything Voldemort or Dumbledore could imagine for you, so just remember that."

Harry laughed softly. "That's my Gin. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"That's a promise I'm holding you to, Harry James Potter." Gin swiped at the stupid tears falling down her cheeks and let go of him.

"It's a promise I intend to keep."

She watched as he left and kept watching, long after he'd gone.

* * *

"I seek to find the answers in your heart."

Ginny rushed to the door and flung it open. "You, always you."

"You're meant to ask me a question to make sure it's me," Harry reminded her with a small smile.

"Voldemort's dead, Harry," Ginny said gently, as if she was reminding him. He needed no such reminder.

"Thank Merlin," he teased. "Can you believe that it's really over?"

"Yes," she grinned up at him. "I knew you'd do it."

"I wasn't sure," he confessed as he walked to the sofa and sat down, dragging her onto his lap and burying his face in her hair. "I thought for a minute ..."

"OUCH!"

"That's for making me think, even for a minute, that you were dead," Ginny glared at him, trying to stop the tears from coming. She had a horrible thought that if they came, they'd never stop.

"I know," Harry groaned, holding her closer. "But I had to make him think I was dead."

"Well, I might forgive you, in time. About ten years might do it," Ginny muttered.

"I'll make it up to you," Harry coaxed.

"You bet you will," Ginny agreed. "Right after you wake up from your exhaustion. Then we can have this conversation in real time."

"I don't know, I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"I can wait a week," Ginny mused. "But after that, we've got a lot of time to make up for."

"I know," Harry grinned happily. "Isn't that great?"

Ginny giggled in spite of herself. "Come on, I added something to the room since last time."

Harry looked around and saw the bed. It was big and comfortable-looking, with clean sheets and enough pillows to disappear into.

Standing up, Ginny held out her hand, which he gladly took. They walked over to the bed and settled themselves under the covers before Ginny snuggled up against him. "Go to sleep, Harry. You deserve some rest."

Smiling, Harry wrapped his arms around her and promptly fell asleep, in his dream.

* * *

"Ron, just leave them," Hermione sighed, trying to pull Ron over to his own bed in the boy's dormitory. "He's just defeated the most powerful dark wizard in the world. He can sleep all he wants."

"But Ginny ..." Ron trailed off as he watched Ginny move closer to Harry, wrapped in his arms.

"All the other Hogwarts beds are taken, your mum and dad are in Ginny's bed. They're just sleeping, Ron. They're fully clothed!" Hermione's own exhaustion was catching up with her. "Let's follow their lead."

Still muttering about inappropriateness, Ron climbed into his own bed and hugged Hermione close to him. "I guess they have been apart for the last year. They probably have loads to catch up on."

Still fast asleep, Harry tightened his grip on Ginny and his lips curved into a peaceful smile.


End file.
